Blooming now
Mary Sue Ittner (Wed, 19 Jul 2006 07:01:07 PDT)

Hi,

Dennis' recent enthusiasm over his Manfreda was matched by my joy that
Calochortus weedii is blooming again for me. It was three years after I
purchased it before it bloomed for the first time in July 2003 and when I
dumped the pot there was only one bulb left and it looked very sickly so
when it didn't bloom in 2004 or 2005 I was sure I had lost it. I had
repotted it in a large pot with a couple other Calochortus that were not
blooming and have kept it sheltered from our heavy rainfall. One of the
bulbs in that pot had buds on it now after all the other Calochortus have
gone dormant and I've been watching it wondering which one it was going to
be. It's just so gorgeous. I've added a current picture to the wiki:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

I always thought Chlorogalum pomeridianum was pollinated by moths as it is
a white and night blooming, but when we have admired its lovely fairy
blooms when it has opened early evening lately it has been covered with
bees. No wonder it sets so much seed. I love these plants, but have been
careless with its seeding about so now I have a few more than I may be
happy with although it is quite charming when all those beautiful delicate
flowers finally open.

Last night as we had all the windows and doors open in our house trying to
cool it down when the temperatures got cooler (we don't have air
conditioning) we could detect a lovely fragrance coming from the garden. My
husband wondered if it could be the Lilium now in bloom I grew from seeds
Sir Peter Smithers gave me. I got the flashlight out and took a tour
through the garden and instead decided it was the late blooming Gladiolus
tristis that has dark markings on the petals. Not only is this plant not
fragrant during the day, but the flowers aren't open very wide then either.
To look at it you think it needs water. But when night comes the flowers
open and it becomes very fragrant.

Mary Sue